Neutrinos are fundamental particles and are members of the same group as the electron (leptons). Neutrinos have very little mass, no charge, and travel through the Earth in milliseconds.
Some Christian religions hold a ‘mass’ for the deceased to celebrate a life. So, this monoku poem links the short time on Earth for neutrinos with our fleeting time on Earth.
John Hawkhead (@haikuhawk.bsky.social) has been writing haiku and illustrating for over 25 years. His work has been published all over the world and he has won a number of haiku competitions. John’s books of haiku and senryu, ‘Small Shadows’ and ‘Bone Moon’, are now available from Alba Publishing (http://www.albapublishing.com/).
Purple–yellow-green, bell-shaped corolla, five petals, flowers grow from rosette of leaves.
Habitat:
Stony waste ground, edge of woodland, coastal areas
The long taproot, shaped like a human form, was said to scream when pulled from the ground. Anyone hearing this would go mad. In Medieval times, it was believed the only way to harvest the plant was on a moonlit night and using a black dog with a cord attached to the plant to uproot it!
It was also believed that the mandrake first grew from the dripping ‘juices’ of a hanged man. This, by the medieval Doctrine of Signatures which taught that the shape and appearance of a plant linked it to parts of the human body, made the mandrake highly valued for specific ailments. However, the poisonous nature of the plant made its medicinal use difficult, as Harry Potter fans may know
The mandrake contains tropane alkaloids which give it narcotic, emetic, sedative and hallucinogenic properties. As early as the fourteenth century BC the plant is mentioned in cuneiform texts and subsequently in Arabic, Greek and Roman writing. It was said the root could be seen as a baby in form, albeit a rather ugly one. This gave rise to the belief that the plant helped childless women to conceive.
Mandrake roots were valuable and not surprisingly there were fraudsters at country fairs with oddly-shaped ‘mandrakes’ carved from turnip roots. It was even believed that these roots knew the sites of buried treasure. They would whisper the secret to their owner, if they trusted him. These beautiful lines from Shakespeare suggest Mandrake was still in use in the 16th century:
‘Give me to drink mandragora. That I might sleep out the great gap of time My Antony is away.’
William Shakespeare, Anthony and Cleopatra, Act 1, Scene 1.
Sarah Das Gupta is a young 81 year old. Loves writing haiku and most forms of poetry. Is learning to walk after an accident. Main outside interests include equine sports. Lives near Cambridge, UK. Read other sciku by Sarah here.
Northern Hemisphere, mountain meadows, partial shade, east or west facing.
Monkshood, so called because its hooded flowers resemble a monk’s cowl, is a hairless perennial of the buttercup family. Several species are cultivated, often at the back of herbaceous borders. Every part of the plant is poisonous and eating even a leaf can be fatal. It is best to wear gloves when handling and keep out of the reach of children or pets. Apparently, it tastes so repulsive that accidental poisoning seems unlikely.
Several unpleasant symptoms result from rubbing the plant into the skin, including numbness. Ingesting it results in stomach pain, dizziness, and heart problems. It is still used in medicines today but in very small quantities.
From ancient times, people have been aware of the dangers of this plant. The ancient Greeks associated it with Hades and it was believed to have sprung up from the saliva of the three-headed dog, Cerberus. The goddess, Athena, is said to have sprinkled the sap on the maiden Arachne, turning her into a spider! In Hinduism the plant is sacred to Lord Shiva who saved the Earth by drinking poison, which he stored in his throat, turning it blue. In European tradition, aconite is linked to Hecate which is why it was found at crossroads and gateways which were associated with her cult. Anglo-Saxon hunters covered the tips of their arrows with aconite when hunting wolves, hence the name wolfsbane.
Sarah Das Gupta is a young 81 year old. Loves writing haiku and most forms of poetry. Is learning to walk after an accident. Main outside interests include equine sports. Lives near Cambridge, UK. Read other sciku by Sarah here.
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